RAVEN!

Great seeing you, man! Hope like hell you're doing better...

pm me... let me know what's happening.

Big Brother is lurking around the corner looking for George Orwell. Together 1984 will be here shortly. The whole damn world is undergoing change. Some of it good .... most of it bad. In fifty years where will your kids be ...... in a cage begging for scraps or living a better quality of life. I'm for the latter but the former seems far more likely, unfortunately.

I know it can seem very dispiriting.  But just what are positive steps that in a big way can oppose the SOPA and PIPA?  I too am upset that the internet could be seriously destabilized by this.  But I also don't want to just give up.  What are things we can do to oppose these "grab for more power" Acts?

Now go get your Obama Internetz I.D. card:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/15/president-obama-releases-national-strategy-trusted-identities-cyberspace

How to cut down the number of identity thefts: Create a central place where they're all stored. First one to hack it: Gold medal and everyone's I.D.

Great idea.

makes it easy to track you ...

How much is it going to cost ???

I already got one and it was free. Well, almost free. I still have nightmares and I go through the preparation-h like there's no tomorrow.

Tucows.com seems to be the first to join Reddit in the blackout.

Wikkipedia and few others considering but have yet to weigh in.

Why We Don’t Like SOPA

If Google and its other divisions such as youtube (not gmail bc thats too important to just drop) join the blackout. Then you can guarentee a public outrage and destruction of SOPA that way.

Really?

"Public outrage" counts for oh so much. The politicians really care. Maybe if you've got a couple of million to give them. Otherwise? Zero.

I think it would make a difference if Google or some of the others got in on it.

When you take into account the folks that have no grasp whatsoever what this is about because they don't care, won't look into it, or are just ignorant or oblivious to it, it would definitely get their attention. Don't think for a minute that the gov isn't counting on the folks that don't know whats going on staying ignorant and not raising their voices. For some folks, the internet is YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and (to be honest) porn. Hell, I know folks that can surf the web but don't know how to send an email.

Some sites don't even have to blackout completely. They can just turn off the ability to download/upload, etc.  Youtube could black out by category (Music Videos, etc). They just have to do enough to give folks a taste of what it could be like, get their attention. Right now, that's what it's all about is getting their attention. The public and the gov.

Oh, and aren't we so proud of our so called 'Democracy'? Democracy my furry bottom!

Money speaks louder.

If thats the case than the reddit black out is really no use. I am trying to be a little less cynical so may as well be a little bit optomistic.

"Public outrage" has worked before in the past. The Vietnam War would be a prime example. It only took 10 years due to lack of info so the public was left in the dark much like SOPA.

The last thing either party wants is a bunch of young folks angry at them and willing to vote.  They'll vote to break the system.

No system is perfect. The USA isn't a democracy or at least not in in its purest form. At it's current state it is a bueracracy but uses a republic form of government to do w/e.

If it passes, 1 day would be too late. I fear there would be no going back. They would just hack at it and twist and tweak it depending on who had the most money. Sadly, they would love that scenario. They could go to these lobbyists and say "Gee, I feel ya, but the people want us to back track on this. Now, I might be able to protect your piece of it but it's not gonna be easy." wink*wink*

It's gonna take the big boys jumping in like Google and such and it can't be little shit like blacking out G+ updates or changing their Google Doodle for the day.  It will be interesting to see which of them has the balls and even then who has the brass ones.